The winter Games have opened in Sochi, Russia, to the sound of deafening silence.

The Olympic debut of slopestyle - a snowboarding event that has competitors performing breathtaking tricks - kicked off today in front of a nearly empty stadium.

The spectators who did attend were nearly all Russian - raising questions over whether security threats, human rights questions and the trickle of Sochi horror stories will keep the world away from the Olympics.

There were large pockets of empty seats during portions of men's and women's qualifying on Thursday, particularly near the beginning and end of the seven-hour session.

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Anybody there? The stadium for the Sochi Olympics' debut event was almost entirely empty on Thursday - a discouraging start to a Winter Games already plagued with problems

The event was before the official opening ceremony on Friday, but the turnout was nonetheless discouraging for athletes

The weather wasn't to blame. Conditions were perfect with sunny skies, warm temperatures and not even the hint of a breeze.

And, despite controversy after two competitors were injured, on jumps that were deemed 'too dangerous,' the course wasn't to blame, either. After days of tweaks, the jumps were tame enough for eight riders to post scores in the 90s - very strong performances.

Thursday's slopestyle qualifying courses marked the first Olympic competition has been held before the winter Games opening ceremony in 30 years.

The crowd appeared to be largely Russian. The biggest cheers were reserved for Russian Alexey Sobolev even though he finished 10th out of 15 riders during his qualifying heat.

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As the competition began, much of the focus had been on athlete safety. However, most athletes came away unscathed at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.

All eyes were on the course following Wednesday's withdrawal of American Shaun White, citing safety concerns, and the frightening crash that left Norway medal hope Torstein Horgmo with a broken collarbone.

But if any of the snowboarders were holding anything back on the sport's Olympic debut they did not show it, as they launched themselves spinning through the air to impress the judges.

Australian Scotty James was left clutching his ribs after a heavy fall, and Norway's Kjersti Buaas had to seek medical attention following a wipeout on her final run in the womens second heat.

Thursday marked the Olympic debut of the sport - slopestyle - though some of snowboarding's biggest stars have pulled out after deeming the course 'too dangerous.' American Karly Shorr is pictured

Safer? Austria's Mathias Weissenbacher wiped out Thursday during the qualifications - though he was not seriously hurt

Big air: Jan Scherrer of Switzerland grabbed his board during a big jump in the qualifications for the Men's Slopestyle competition

'It's demanding, but it works. It's not a bad course,' Norway's Torgeir Bergrem, who slipped in both runs, told Reuters in the finish zone

'They're not the most "poppy" jumps - we're used to getting a little help with our tricks - but you have to do everything on your own here, so I guess that's the main difference that people are struggling with.'

Bergrem said that doubts over course safety expressed earlier in the week had been dealt with after organizers trimmed the height of some of the jumps.

'It's not dangerous at all, it's a regular course,' he said.

'The jumps are regular size, the rails are good, it's fine.'

Games officials had been racing to complete preparations in time but as Britain's Billy Morgan took off to give slopestyle its official debut, volunteers were still hammering poles into the ground to secure crash barriers.

Morgan was so focused on his run that he was not even aware he was about to make snowboarding history.

Nearly everyone in the stands was Russian, according to reports - raising questions about whether the world is willing to come to Sochi

The opening ceremony is not until Friday, but the sparse attendance does not bode well for the Sochi games

'It was pretty cool, I didn't realize until one of the other athletes told me at the top,' he told reporters.

'I didn't think about it until the last minute. I had fun and it was really good.'

Cheered on by a crowd well short of capacity, the riders grabbed the sport's Olympic opportunity with both hands, posing for photographs and signing autographs for fans.

Eight automatic spots in both the men's and women's final were up for grabs on Thursday, with the second heats delivering the day's most breathtaking action.

Austria's Anna Gasser showed no signs of nerves as she put in a sizzling run to score 95.50 to book her place in the final.

'I was so nervous, I've never been that nervous in my life before. I'm straight to the finals, that's the best thing I could wish for,' she said with a beaming smile.

'It's the Olympics, and back home it's the first time it (slopestyle) is on TV back home, so I knew all my friends were watching.'

In the second heat of the men's competition, Canada's Maxence Parrot came out on top after a frenzied second run which saw the lead change hands several times.

The men's final is on Saturday and the women's the following day.

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Slopestyle: Empty seats at first Sochi Olympic event as few bother showing up